No matter where a smoker goes these days there is someone reminding them that it is in there best interest to quit smoking. Additionally, with many states and communities passing laws regulating where a person can light up, many have decided that it is worth the effort to quit smoking.

Less then 30 years ago, there were very few people who were against smoking and many times during that period smokers were witnessed on television shows and in the movies lighting up their cigarettes and despite the earliest warnings about the health hazards of cigarettes, there was no real push to get people to quit smoking.

When the issue of second-hand smoke dangers was initially presented those that smoked, often in the presence of children and other non-smokers wanted more scientific evidence to back that claim before they would quit smoking around others. Even with overwhelming evidence of the dangers, many are still finding it hard to quit smoking.

Smoking is an addictive habit that normally begins when a person is in their teen years or early into their 20’s. It is very easy to become hooked on cigarettes but not nearly as easy to quit smoking, as people would like to think.

Addiction Is Mental And Physical

There is a physical addiction to nicotine, the main addictive drug in cigarettes that can take about a week to work out of the system. The first 72 hours are considered the worst time when people quit smoking but after that the physical craving for nicotine diminishes. The remainder of the addiction is considered mental, although there are physical aspects to it as well.

People who smoked, especially for many years, find they have nothing to do with their hands, which held onto a cigarette during their smoking years. In order to reduce the mental craving some turn to eating or snacking, which is something they rarely did while they were smoking. Weight gain is a common occurrence for ne non-smokers, but many believe that losing weight will be easier than when they quit smoking.

Others believe that just like becoming addicted to cigarettes did not happen overnight, breaking the habit will take time as well and they have a slow withdrawal plan with a target date to quit smoking. Others find various means to break the habit, such as hypnosis, laser techniques and substitutes to wean them off the addictive habits. But most agree that they need to do whatever it takes to quit smoking for their health’s sake.